Although not a legal holiday in most of Canada (unless you live in Newfoundland), St. Patrick’s Day is widely recognized and celebrated across the nation with Irish festivals, parades, traditional fares like corned beef and cabbage and prominent displays of the colour green.
Celebrated annually on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick honours the anniversary of his death in 460 AD. St. Patrick was a patron of Ireland and devoted himself to the Christian religion, evangelizing to and converting those in the northern half of Ireland. His efforts against the Druids were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove “snakes” out of Ireland (Ireland never had any snakes).
The Shamrock:
Many symbols that represent this festive holiday among which is the shamrock, the official flower of Ireland. It is regarded as the native plant of Ireland and prominently worn on St. Patrick’s Day.
The shamrock is as a symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day due in part to the natural abundance of clover plants in the country, and its strong association with Christianity. Legend says that St. Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the concept of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) when trying to convert non-Christian pagans to Christianity.
Other symbols:
There are other popular St. Patrick’s Day symbols too: leprechaun, a pot of gold, rainbows, the harp and, of course, the colour green.
According to Irish folklore, a leprechaun is a mischievous type of fairy who spends his time making shoes in the forest and hides his gold in pots at the end of a rainbow. If a human captures a leprechaun, the leprechaun must grant the captor three wishes or reveal where his gold is hidden to be released.
Fun facts:
- The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York City on March 17, 1762
- Montreal hosts one of the longest-running and largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in North America. Celebrations in the city date back to 1759 by Irish soldiers in the Montreal Garrison following the British conquest of New France
- Toronto has hosted a St. Patrick’s Day parade annually since 1863
- Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team was known as the Toronto St. Patricks from 1919 to 1927
- The Irish Association of Manitoba runs an annual three-day festival of music and culture based on St Patrick’s Day
- Vancouver celebrated its first annual festival of the Celtic Nations and their cultures in 2004
- In Quebec City, there was a parade from 1837 to 1926. The Quebec City St-Patrick Parade returned in 2010 after more than 84 years
